Jun 03, 2013

Dec 16, 2003

(CIDRAP News)  An outbreak of avian influenza in South Korea has resulted in the deaths of 24,000 chickens at a farm southeast of Seoul.

The disease killed 19,000 chickens at the farm and prompted authorities to destroy the remaining 5,000 chickens as a containment measure, according to a report by the OIE (Office International des Epizooties), the world organization for animal health.

Dec 24, 2003

(CIDRAP News)  Federal officials took pains to assure the public today that the risk of contamination in the US beef supply is very low following yesterday's announcement that the nation's first apparent case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, had turned up in Washington state.

Dec 30, 2003

(CIDRAP News)  The outbreak of avian influenza in South Korea has spread to at least 14 farms and triggered the culling of 1.2 million chickens and ducks since it was identified in mid-December, according to reports from Asian newspapers.

Jan 07, 2004

Jan 7, 2003 (CIDRAP News)  The avian influenza outbreak in South Korea showed signs of subsiding last week, but the disease turned up at a new site Jan 4, according to Korean newspaper reports.

The new case was confirmed at a duck farm in South Chungchong Province in the west-central part of the country, bringing the number of affected farms to 15, according to a Jan 5 report in the Korea Times.

Jan 12, 2004

(CIDRAP News)  Official sources have confirmed outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Vietnam and Japan, and one media report said the Vietnamese outbreak may be linked to the deaths of 11 people in Hanoi.

Jan 13, 2004

Jan 13, 2003 (CIDRAP News)  Highly pathogenic avian influenza has popped up at another farm in South Korea, this one widely separated from the site where the last cases were found 9 days ago, according to Korean newspaper reports.

Editor's note: This story was updated Jan 14 with additional information from a statement by the WHO's Western Pacific office.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed today that an avian influenza virus has infected humans in Vietnam, raising concern that avian and human viruses could share genes and give rise to a dangerous new influenza virus.

Jan 16, 2004

(CIDRAP News)  The World Health Organization (WHO) today confirmed a fourth fatal human case of avian influenza in Vietnam and voiced concern that conditions there have a potential for triggering an influenza pandemic.

Jan 20, 2004

(CIDRAP News)  The World Health Organization (WHO) said today it is launching an effort to quickly develop a vaccine against influenza A(H5N1), the avian flu virus that has caused at least five human deaths in Vietnam.